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Old 08-13-2009, 01:11 PM   #1
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bike rack ideas

I am looking for a way to mount a bike rack or carry bikes. I made a clamp on reciever for the back bumper but was told that it isn't reccomended because the welds could break. I was wondering if anyone here has any ideas on how to carry bikes. I have roo 21ss. thanks for any suggestions.
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Old 08-13-2009, 06:39 PM   #2
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I'd be curious as well. I have a 21RS and eventually would like to get bikes and carry them. What's the best, safests method?
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Old 08-13-2009, 06:58 PM   #3
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Poptoprails

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Old 08-13-2009, 08:12 PM   #4
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One I made for bikes,scooter carrier

Welded 2"receiver to 3"steel channel which is ubolted to the trailer frame and rests on top of bumper and u bolted to it as well.
Have carried a 200# scooter on back with special frame which slides into receiver with no problems. Any receiver type bike carrier works as well.

http://inlinethumb20.webshots.com/45...600x600Q85.jpg
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Old 08-14-2009, 03:21 AM   #5
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if you must put the rack on the rear, you'll need to have a receiver welded and braced to the frame and bumper. bolting or welding it to just the bumper is not enough.

my bikes are too expensive to risk being in the back of the trailer where i can't see them until they and the rack are bouncing down the road!

i have a ball mount rack on the rear step bumper of my Avalanche. it'll carry up to 3 bikes. i have enough clearance except on extremely tight turns. that way i can see them in the rear view mirror.
the Toppoprails rack is by far the best solution, but also the most expensive one.
i wish Yakima or Thule would come out with something similar and cheaper.
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Old 01-01-2010, 03:39 PM   #6
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Added Hitch to Front of Truck for Bikes

I have a 2006 Ford F150. I installed a trailer hitch to the front of my truck and purchased a bike rack for our bikes. We travelled 6 months and 16,000 miles with our bikes in front. No problems with the exception of a few bug bodies to wash off now and then.
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Old 01-03-2010, 08:52 AM   #7
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I have a bike rack that holds 4 bikes which is a lot of weight. You may want to check into the weight rating of your trailer bumper. At the last RV show we went to Forest River had put a sticker on the back of there travel trailers with the weight rating on them, I believe that the max weight rating is 150 lbs at 6" extended out. There are two great suggestion here, If you have to put the rack on the back of your TT have It welded to the frame or have It installed on the front of your tow vehicle, remember If your bikes fall off It could be very ugly on the highway. Spend the money and do It right.
One other thing I noticed about receivers, a bike rack fits tighter in a class 4 then In a class 3, with a tighter fit there is less movement up and down when you hit a bumb in the road, the rack moves with the motion of the trailer then on It's own which causes less stress on the bumper of the trailer. The same thing go's for utility trailers, If the load is tight down then the load moves at the same rate as the trailer so there is no counter action from the load.
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Old 01-03-2010, 11:08 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by cosmojvlff View Post
I am looking for a way to mount a bike rack or carry bikes. I made a clamp on reciever for the back bumper but was told that it isn't reccomended because the welds could break. I was wondering if anyone here has any ideas on how to carry bikes. I have roo 21ss. thanks for any suggestions.
If you have an SUV, put those puppies on top.....it shouldn't be any higher than your trailer.

If you have pickup, check out my signature for the solution I can up with. I rigged up some adapters that allowed me to mount some old Yak Rack gear to my Trac Rac system.
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Old 01-03-2010, 05:37 PM   #9
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I have a bolt on receiver for the rear bumper. I use a 4 bike carrier to haul our bikes. you can weld and bolt a receiver to the frame all you want. if you don`t support the weight of the bikes and rack they will still bounce around.

I mounted 2 eyebolts through the rear wall and bed studs to support the weight of the bikes. I use 2 ratcheting tiedowns and criss/cross them. I also use a tiedown under the bumper, over the reciever and back under the bumper to keep any twist from happening in the bumper/receiver. I also have a setbolt to take any vertical movement out of the hitch. here are some pics.







I have 2 years and many miles of towing and I have no issues with bouncing or flexing. I also have a rear camera on the trailer and the bikes are rock solid. before I put in the setbolt the bikes would still bounce around badly! now with the setbolt and the tiedowns I never worry about the bikes bouncing around!
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Old 01-03-2010, 07:59 PM   #10
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Dodge Guy, unfortunately, your setup won't work with the hybrids because of the rear bunk.
there are no studs to put eyebolts into. mounting eyebolts to support the bikes, would weaken the integrity of the bed platform. the platform outer frame is the only thing i know of that keeps it rigid.
the only place to put such a setup would be on the corners of the back of the hybrid.
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Old 01-05-2010, 10:37 PM   #11
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Dodge Guy, unfortunately, your setup won't work with the hybrids because of the rear bunk.
there are no studs to put eyebolts into. mounting eyebolts to support the bikes, would weaken the integrity of the bed platform. the platform outer frame is the only thing i know of that keeps it rigid.
the only place to put such a setup would be on the corners of the back of the hybrid.
I didn`t even give it a thought that the Roo was a Hybrid! oops! my buddy has the same issue with his Outback. If you could find the studs in the rear corners it could work out well. we couldn`t determine where the aluminum studs were in his and we didn`t want to start drilling holes without knowing for sure!
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Old 03-13-2010, 03:10 PM   #12
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I was hoping to find studs for some support straps for my bumper mounted bike rack. Any suggestions for finding the studs? bikendan, do you know something is at the corners to mount to? Or what about bolts that go all the way through with large washers to spread out the force - perhaps they wouldn't need to be in a "stud"?
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Old 03-13-2010, 06:21 PM   #13
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columbusshoes, I posted a reply to you with photos on your roo post, go there and see what I did, it is very sturdy and permanent
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Old 03-14-2010, 01:03 AM   #14
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The more you hang of the back the less your tongue ways. I flipped a rig because it was too light on the tongue.I put mi bikes in the back of my p/u now.
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Old 03-14-2010, 08:10 AM   #15
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The more you hang of the back the less your tongue ways. I flipped a rig because it was too light on the tongue.I put mi bikes in the back of my p/u now.
I never heard that before, but you learn somthing new every day. My camper has a tongue weight of 660 lbs and I have a bike rack that holds 4 bikes, the bikes weigh approx 30 to 35 lbs each, the bumper on the camper is rated at 150 lbs. So 4x35=140 lbs this does not include the weight of the bike rack it self. I have a Reese duel cam weight distribution and sway control hitch system. Now in checking the distances from the coupler to the front face of the first tire, I have a approx 18' and 10' from the face of the back tire to the bumper, just wondering how does 150 lbs on the back of the camper make me lite on the tongue, I do not believe that the axles are position to balances the weight between the front and back of the camper. How would I flip my camper by carring bikes on the back? there may be something else that's not right to cause this kind of action. Fireman2 could you help me understand a little better, or could someone else chime in thanks...
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Old 03-14-2010, 09:39 AM   #16
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I never heard that before, but you learn somthing new every day. My camper has a tongue weight of 660 lbs and I have a bike rack that holds 4 bikes, the bikes weigh approx 30 to 35 lbs each, the bumper on the camper is rated at 150 lbs. So 4x35=140 lbs this does not include the weight of the bike rack it self. I have a Reese duel cam weight distribution and sway control hitch system. Now in checking the distances from the coupler to the front face of the first tire, I have a approx 18' and 10' from the face of the back tire to the bumper, just wondering how does 150 lbs on the back of the camper make me lite on the tongue, I do not believe that the axles are position to balances the weight between the front and back of the camper. How would I flip my camper by carring bikes on the back? there may be something else that's not right to cause this kind of action. Fireman2 could you help me understand a little better, or could someone else chime in thanks...
Wade, I will chime in here. According to many "experts", the ideal tongue weight should be 12 to 15% of the total trailer weight......some say as little as 10%. Without this weight, the trailer can be more prone to sway. The 660 lb tongue weight that you have is good if your total trailer weight is less than 6600 lbs......better yet if that weight were 5500 lbs making your tongue weight 12% of the trailer weight. But if you hang those bikes on the back of the trailer equal distance from the axle centers compared to the tongue to that point, then you are removing 150 lbs. from your tongue weight, now making it 510 lbs..........think of a see-saw. On a 6600 lb. trailer, you now only have a 7.8% tongue weight to trailer ratio, and you could experience more sway. Since most trailers have the axles further towards the back of the trailer than the middle, hanging 150 lbs. from the bumper is not going to decrease the tongue weight that much, but may take off 100 to 120 lbs. Hope all of my ramblings make sense.....I think I even confused myself.

If you have a heavy tongue weight vs. total trailer weight, then the bikes hanging from the bumper shouldn't be as much of a problem with trailer sway. But I have witnessed bikes hanging back there that really move around a lot, due to the rear movement of the trailer.
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Old 03-14-2010, 09:54 AM   #17
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Wade, I will chime in here. According to many "experts", the ideal tongue weight should be 12 to 15% of the total trailer weight......some say as little as 10%. Without this weight, the trailer can be more prone to sway. The 660 lb tongue weight that you have is good if your total trailer weight is less than 6600 lbs......better yet if that weight were 5500 lbs making your tongue weight 12% of the trailer weight. But if you hang those bikes on the back of the trailer equal distance from the axle centers compared to the tongue to that point, then you are removing 150 lbs. from your tongue weight, now making it 510 lbs. On a 6600 lb. trailer, you now only have a 7.8% tongue weight to trailer ratio, and could experience more sway. Since most trailers have the axles further towards the back of the trailer than the middle, hanging 150 lbs. from the bumper is not going to decrease the tongue weight that much, but may take off 100 to 120 lbs. Hope all of my ramblings make sense.....I think I even confused myself.
mtnguy, yes I understand now, it's the first time I have heard of it, and by the way my camper is 6,600 lbs dry. I am glad I replied to this post because I have learn something new, I thought that the extra weight on the back would be absorbed by the suspenion of the camper due to the fact that the distances between the coupler and the face of the front tire was 18'. Thanks for the over view, it is a great reply.....
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Old 03-14-2010, 10:28 AM   #18
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mtnguy, yes I understand now, it's the first time I have heard of it, and by the way my camper is 6,600 lbs dry. I am glad I replied to this post because I have learn something new, I thought that the extra weight on the back would be absorbed by the suspenion of the camper due to the fact that the distances between the coupler and the face of the front tire was 18'. Thanks for the over view, it is a great reply.....
Good point....the weight would be absorbed some by the suspension.......hmmmm.......gotta do a little more ciphering now.
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Old 03-14-2010, 10:36 AM   #19
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After messing with a ruler suspended over an ink pen, I am now confused. Maybe my other reply is not exactly correct. Picturing a see-saw, 150 lbs. on 1 end should take off 150 lbs. from the other.....but what about the weight on the fulcrum (axles) ???

Maybe the weight taken off from the tongue would only equal 1/2 of the 150 lbs., with the other 75 lbs. going to the axles ???? That would be if the axles were exactly in the middle, and more on the axles and less taken off of the tongue because most trailers have the axles toward the rear ???

Darn....now my brain hurts.

I need for someone else to chime in here.....any geometry majors on board ???
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Old 03-14-2010, 03:08 PM   #20
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I did a lot of research about carrying bikes on the rear bumper when I first bought my pop-up trailer, and every post I could find using google all recommended against it. Rationale was that putting the extra weight sticking out beyond the bumper caused excess sway.

If you think about it, when you put weight in the back of your trailer, you can change your tongue weight, but when you extend it beyond the back of the trailer, you can actually change the weight of your tongue by MORE than the actual weight of the bikes, this is the same effect of using a cheeter bar when loosening a stuck nut, the leverage is much greater.

However, with all this stated. My research conclusion was the problem was worse with pop-up's more because they are usually shorter in length, and most are a single axle trailers.

My pop-up was one of the largest and longest available with single axle, I chose not to put the bikes on the rear, rather I put some Thule rails on the roof, and used a roof top bike carrier and accessories to hold the bikes.

I strongly believe that when you exceed 20 feet in your trailer length, two axles and a dry weight of 4600 lbs, 600+ tongue weight (dry) that adding 150-200 pounds on a receiver hitch will have no ill effect on sway. I think that loading camp equipment, water, etc will offset your tongue weight and you will be ok. You MUST also be sure that you do not exceed any of your weight limits, including your axle weight limits when loading any of your equipment. (including bikes)

Again, I think the biggest problem comes from single axle configurations, two axle configurations will absorb much more of the weight balances.
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